International Sinti And Roma Day

BERLIN, GERMANY - APRIL 08: (L to R) Berlin's Integration Senator Dilek Kolat (SPD), Bundestag Vice President Petra Pau (SPD), Roman Franz, chairman of the Association of Roma and Sinti in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Nizaqete Bislimi, head of the National Roma Association (Bundes Roma Verband), and Head of Federal Antidiscrimination Agency Christine Lueders attend a ceremony for Romani victims of the Nazis at the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe Murdered Under National Socialism on International Romani Day on April 8, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. The annual event was created in London in 1971 to raise awareness of the issues facing Romani people and to celebrate the ethnic minority's culture. According to government figures, the majority of the estimated 70,000 Romani in Germany are Sinti, a subgroup that along with Roma were among those specifically targeted for genocide during the country's Nazi period. An estimated 10-12 million Romani live in Europe today, according to the European Commission. The Romani arrived in Germany 600 years ago, but as in other countries still face a form of discrimination known as antiziganism, or anti-Romanyism, to this day, forcing some to hide their ancestry. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)